​Update Fall 2023- Summer 2024:
  Textile Sculpture Classes using Powertex Textile Medium are offered in my schedule finally!

To purchase your registration and kit to the Textile Sculpture Classes you must click on my "ONLINE STORE"  above to purchase.
 
                       CLASSES- Urbana:
PURCHASE YOUR SPOT IN MY ONLINE STORE For:  NIVROCS COUNTRY STORE in Urbana Ohio 
 Class for adults,  textile sculpture
(the kit is included in this items price) 

 Oct 20th 12-4  -at Nivrocs in Urbana, Ohio
Themed witches and warlocks! (or you can do a regular clothed figure if you like) We will be using black and silver coloring (as pictured in the item listing in my online store) or bronze and gold as pictured to the left.


               
Updates for late 2023 and 2024 so far : I taught Puppetry and Puppet Making at OSU.
 Spent several weeks in CA Creating a giant shark body animatronic, sea creatures and carved concrete walls to resemble “coral and mountain rock” for a Urban Putt San Jose, CA
Created 2 commissioned GIANT stage sized costumes for a designer in NYC to go to Phoenix AZ, one being a 35 ft cloak with fake ball and chains on it for Jacob Marley in Scrooge and a wearable flyable daisy costume with 15 foot silky petals.
Created a new Rental Set of puppets and matching costume pieces for James and the Giant Peach.
Created 3 giant dancing elephant rumps for the show Big Fish and are also available now to rent approx. 6 hours or less driving from Columbus Ohio.
I created 15 mouse heads for Columbus Ballet Met Nutcracker (which I am also the designer and creator of all of their Nutcracker Prince heads as well)
As always, I am seeking more work/travel in any of my various skill sets!
 
 I have adjusted where I spend my time and energy more into my own studio artwork, professionally priced commissions, teaching and travel/work.
 I am no longer accepting full show costume work. That being said, I WILL consider commissioned custom giant or odd pieces that are my specialty or puppets, or tricky props if a professional price budget is available.
 
Along with teaching textile sculpture and doing my own sculptural work, I hope to finish some custom upholstery pieces and fashion pieces this year!
I have found a love for restoration on some pieces of  Mexican paper mache art and a ventriloquist dummy in the recent past and hope to bring in more of that work as well. Starting with a beloved broken lion toy on my agenda for a client.
 
.

Textile Art Pin 2020

​ARTIST STATEMENT
TonyaMarie

I choose to express my artistic vision through mixed media sculpture. I thrive with the freedom from commitment to any one technique, material, or process. It is this freestyle approach combined with a vast assortment of artistic skills, unusual experiences, extreme curiosity, and observations of life that fuel my work.

Fabrics and textiles offer this same feeling of freedom for me due to their possibilities for manipulation of textures, colors, patterns, and shapes to transform space. I combine other objects or materials with the fabrics when it will further convey my narrative concepts. My approach and aesthetic of interesting color use, textures, and fine detail are the defining constants in my work along with being a cruelty free designer. My subjects are most often nature or animal inspired including my interest in the beautiful bizarre and anthropomorphic worlds.

Through my life’s adventures and research, the inspiration for my work comes from a multitude of subjects and characters, often animals, as I see them, in an anthropomorphic view. My concept is often fact based then
embellished as elements transform into a theatrical narrative of my own vision .

My work welcomes viewers into my imagination while incorporating layers of interest, and often fact-based secrets to find, depending on how deeply they choose to respond to the invitation.

TonyaMarie~ Artistic Director/artist/owner of Gypsy Cat Studios